Chapter 83: Messing With Everyone
This time, Stelle's answer wasn't as straightforward. She hesitated, a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes, before replying awkwardly, "It's because of the mission. My orders are to protect Jiraiya-sama."
Jiraiya clicked his tongue. "Could you be any more dishonest? Sooner or later, I'll get you to admit you saved me because I'm your comrade, not because of some order. And stop with the '-sama' already! Just call me Jiraiya. How many times do I have to tell you?"
With a thunderous expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi grabbed Jiraiya by the collar, dragged him aside, and began a harsh lecture.
"You absolute idiot! How could you still fall for such an obvious trap? When are you going to learn your lesson?!"
He then spun around, his frustration clearly not sated, and fixed his glare on Stelle.
"Kou, I did give the order to protect them, but that was only to help you integrate with the team. They are meant to become shinobi who can stand on their own two feet. Overprotecting them will only stunt their growth."
Like a mother hen defending her chick, Jiraiya immediately jumped between them, shielding Stelle behind his back.
"Sarutobi-sensei, why are you yelling at Kou? I'm the one who triggered the trap! You already chewed me out, so you can't scold Kou anymore!"
"Is this just a matter of scolding?!"
His patience finally snapping, Hiruzen tackled Jiraiya, pinning him to the ground for a thorough and long-overdue thrashing. If he didn't beat some sense into him now, this disciple of his would just blunder into the next trap he came across.
He didn't stop with Jiraiya, either. He made sure to give 'Uchiha Kou' a few solid knocks on the head for good measure.
When he was finished, Hiruzen dusted off his hands, feeling a sense of deep satisfaction. He looked at his two students: one glaring defiantly with a fresh bump swelling on his forehead, the other clutching her head with a wide-eyed, innocent expression.
As expected, when one felt frustrated, beating someone up was the most satisfying remedy.
And in this perfectly harmonious environment, Konoha began its next great phase of development.
Stelle didn't limit her operations to just farming emotional value from Jiraiya and the others through her 'Kou' identity. During her days off, she would slip back into her Hokage persona to harvest reactions from any other 'fish that had escaped the net.'
As time passed, more named characters began to appear on the world's timeline, and she had no intention of letting a single one go to waste.
She established a special training program, gathering all the shinobi who had either made a name for themselves or had just begun to emerge during this period. In the name of the Hokage, she conducted training tailored to their individual talents, grandly dubbing it the 'Elite Jonin Training Class.'
For the sake of plausibility, she naturally included a few promising youths from the Senju and Uchiha clans.
But they weren't the main event. The real prizes were the other attendees: Hiruko, a future minor antagonist who would nearly kill Kakashi; Maito Dai, the man who would one day kick the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist until only a trio of survivors remained; and Dan Katō, the man who would become Tsunade's unforgettable lost love.
Stelle, as the Fourth Hokage, had faced four enemy Kage simultaneously on the battlefield of negotiation and flawlessly eliminated them. One could only imagine the level of sheer worship these young shinobi held for her.
Among them, two were particularly ecstatic. The first was Hiruko, who, due to his poor innate talent, often resorted to peeking at Orochimaru and the others during their training. The second was Maito Dai, who was the most excited of all, as he possessed no talent for anything besides taijutsu.
When they signed up, they had merely submitted their applications out of pure admiration for the Hokage. They never dreamed they would actually be chosen. It felt like a fantasy.
"Hokage-sama, I'm just an ordinary ninja with no talent. Can I… can I really be your student?" Hiruko stood before Stelle, his body rigid with nervousness. A wave of excitement washed over him, only to be followed by a crushing tide of self-doubt.
What if he performed too poorly? What if he couldn't keep up with the Hokage's teachings?
In his heart, the Hokage was a godlike figure. He couldn't bear to imagine the despair he would feel if he ever saw a hint of disappointment in those eyes.
Maito Dai wasn't faring much better. His father was a career genin, and he had inherited his father's constitution. After graduating, his inability to use ninjutsu meant he couldn't find a suitable position in the village. The missions he could take outside were never high-ranked. He never imagined he would stand out among so many applicants and be selected as an elite trainee.
"Hokage-sama, I… I only know taijutsu… nothing else…" he finally managed to squeeze out after a long, internal struggle.
It was time for Stelle to serve up some inspiration.
"You two, don't belittle yourselves," she said, her voice warm and encouraging. "Everyone's talent is different; you simply haven't discovered your own yet."
Her gaze settled on Hiruko. "I see in your eyes a sense of exploration, a curiosity for new things. Your persistence is destined to make you a great scientist. Accept my training; the position of Vice Head of the Konoha Research Department is already reserved for you."
Stelle then turned to Maito Dai.
"And you, Dai. Practice your taijutsu until you have perfected it. I will personally assist you. You must understand that even without ninjutsu or genjutsu, one can become a magnificent shinobi through taijutsu alone. I have very high hopes for you."
The motivational speech was served, a large bowl for each.
The two young men, 'nobodies' who had long been overlooked by everyone around them, were suddenly being recognized by the highest leader in the village. They were so moved they began to cry, tears and snot streaming down their faces as they fought the urge to hug the Hokage's legs.
"Hokage-sama! We will definitely work hard! We will never fail your expectations!"
Stelle's machinations weren't limited to the younger generation; she didn't let her own peers off the hook either, focusing particularly on her six-person guard unit.
She became obsessed with holding meetings, timing them with malicious precision.
Whenever it was time for Jiraiya's team to rest or for their individual training sessions, she would summon her council to the Hokage Building for meetings, unable to tear herself away from the steady stream of emotional feedback.
A major meeting every three days, a minor one every two. She required everyone to clock in at the start of the workday and clock out at the end. Files concerning Konoha's development piled up into small mountains on their desks.
She wasn't just making them busy for the sake of it. The newly established Konoha had been a small village, but as it expanded into the surrounding territories, its size had ballooned. With new districts appearing, the administrative system naturally needed to be more refined.
She decided to carry out another complete restructuring. Although the previous system had been modeled after the Six Ministries of ancient courts, it was only a rudimentary prototype, a messy hodgepodge. Now, she would overhaul it completely, refining every detail.
One should never assume that a small change in the system is a minor matter. Sometimes, a few words from the boss can send subordinates running themselves ragged for weeks. The resulting workload was not something an ordinary person could handle.
Even Danzō had to move back from District One after a messenger ninja delivered a chilling ultimatum: "The Fourth says if you don't come back to work tomorrow, she'll be visiting your grave next year."
Danzō hauled his entire office from District One back to the main Konoha village overnight. Buried in a pile of documents, he felt like he was on the verge of collapse.
The only reason Konoha hadn't swallowed the Land of Fire whole was a critical lack of administrative talent. It was why they kept the nobles and the Daimyo around—like leeks in a garden, ready to be harvested.
Now that the village had finally stabilized and everything was running smoothly, the Hokage had decided to apply drastic improvements again, with impossibly high standards. It was practically squeezing every last drop of life from their labor.
Of course, the six-person council didn't know the term 'labor force,' nor did they understand 'exploitation.'
But as the six most powerful people in Konoha besides the Hokage herself, they felt like they were living a life worse than a genin's.
They woke up earlier than roosters and slept later than dogs. Sometimes, when they truly couldn't keep up, they had to use Shadow Clones to work overtime. The next morning, when the clones dispelled and the crushing fatigue flooded their original bodies, the sensation was enough to make a grown man break down.
In the end, the first person to crack was Akimichi Torifu. Although he had been fortunate enough to be guided by Tobirama-sama and join the guard unit, he was, at his core, a combat-type shinobi, completely inept at management.
Previously, due to his status in the guard unit, the Fourth Hokage—out of a sense of fairness—had given him a small amount of authority. The tasks were simple, so he could stumble through them and even slack off when things were quiet.
Suddenly, because of the restructuring, a mountain of new responsibilities was thrust into his hands. It was all so abrupt. Although the matters he had to manage were nothing compared to the others, he couldn't handle it. If something went wrong on his watch, he'd be finished.
Fortunately, the Ino-Shika-Chō trio had a designated brain. Akimichi Torifu recommended his good friend, Nara Kajisuke, to the Hokage, strongly requesting that Kajisuke take over his duties.
Stelle looked at Nara Kajisuke with a hint of disdain. Was she scorning his intelligence?
No. She was scorning the fact that he hadn't left a name for himself on the world's timeline. Such a major intellectual figure, and he could only provide her with a paltry three to five points of emotional value.
'Sigh,' she thought, a flicker of disappointment crossing her face. 'Another day of missing the Fourth Great Ninja War.'
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